The RMV will now accept electronic stamps and signatures for RMV-1 Forms.  We have developed an e-Stamp feature to take advantage of this.  It’s integrated within WinRater and meets the approval of the RMV and certain carriers.  Here’s how it will work:

• Carriers will be able to create a WinRater “eStamp” for each of their agents containing the agency name and carrier ID number.
• Carriers will deliver the eStamp to agencies.  (Delivery methods will vary, depending on the carrier, including download, email, etc.)
• Agents, in turn, will import the eStamps into their WinRater.
• While in a RMV-1 Form, agents will be able to select from their list of carrier eStamps (accessible from a dialog box) and “paste” it in the appropriate place on the Form. CSRs will be able to type their names on the “signature” line.
• The RMV-1 Form can be printed or emailed as a PDF file.

This is should help make the quote-to-issue workflow even easier for you.  There is no cost for this feature upgrade.  Our aim is to release this to agents in the next 4 weeks for any carrier choosing to use our solution.   We intend to utilize this same functionality for RMV-3 forms in the near future.  Look for more details about release dates and instructions in our monthly Rollout Report.

By now you should have received a SoftSync update from us containing upcoming Rate Changes with additional New Customer discounts. We thought it would be helpful to list the details of your carrier(s) changes. See below:

Arbella - Auto
Updated Rating Factors effective 4/1/2010.

Commerce - Auto
Rate Change effective 4/1/2010.

• Added a Smart Driver discount. To find it, go to the DRIVER’S tab and choose the DRIVER COVERAGES/MOTORCYCLES tab.

MAIP - Auto
Rate Change effective 4/1/2010.

• Added Low Frequency Eligible discount. To find it, go to the DRIVER’S tab and choose the DRIVER COVERAGES/MOTORCYCLES tab.

• Added Operator Continuous Coverage discount. To find it, go to the DRIVER’S tab and choose the DRIVER COVERAGES/MOTORCYCLES tab.

Quincy Mutual - Auto
Rate Change effective 4/1/2010.

• New Good Student discount. To find it, go to the DRIVER’S tab.

• New Student Away from Home discount. To find it, go to the DRIVER’S tab.

• Added Continuously Insured discount. To find it, go to the DRIVER’S tab and choose the DRIVER COVERAGES/MOTORCYCLES tab.

• Added Good Driver discount. To find it, go to the DRIVER’S tab and choose the DRIVER COVERAGES/MOTORCYCLES tab then select the LOW FREQUENCY ELIGIBLE option.

• The Loyalty Credit has been renamed Preferred Operator discount.

MA Fair Plan Rate - Home
Change effective 03/31/2010.

• Base Rate Change

• Endorsement Changes

Bunker Hill - Home
Rate Change effective 4/1/2010

• Introduced two new Homeowners credits: Super Preferred and Agency Loyalty Factor Credit.

• The plan Bunker Hill 1775 has been renamed to Bunker Hill 1775 (HO5).

• Underwriting Guideline changes.

Various Carriers – Dwelling Fire and Umbrella

• Minor rate changes, updates and corrections.

Today is the official date that all MA companies are required to comply with new privacy regulations. Rest assured Boston Software is committed to safeguarding the personal information that we receive, store, maintain, and process. We are in compliance with Massachusetts General Laws Chapters 93H and 931 and 201 CMR 17.00 (the “Regulations”) that govern the security of personal information.

With these security measures in mind, Boston Software:

• has developed and implemented a written information security plan (WISP) that complies with the regulations;
• maintains and monitors its WISP in accordance with the regulations;
• determines if third parties receiving personal information have the capacity to comply with the terms of its WISP and the regulations;
• continues to protect all personal information in the manner required by the regulations;
• only uses personal information for the purposes for which it is provided and not for any other use.

Nearly 500 MA agencies completed a survey for us recently. We wanted to know if you liked SinglePoint and how we could improve it. The good news is that nearly 90% of respondents agreed that SinglePoint is a valuable part of the automation process and has “improved overall agency workflow”. That is music to our ears.

However, the “not so good” news that the survey showed is that SinglePoint needs to continue improving. Respondents told us we need to add more carriers, collect more data, and simplify the workflow even more. We hear you – and, as you can see by the first item in this newsletter (see above), we’ve done just that. And with your help, we’ll continue to improve SinglePoint!

In the meantime, SinglePoint continues to chug along:

· 18,000 = the number of new business Apps agents submitted via SinglePoint in the month of June

· 42,000 = the number of times agents used SinglePoint to real time rate Plymouth Rock Auto

The momentum is definitely building!

Give us a call or visit our SinglePoint Learning Center for more details.

 I know, I know, we talk about WinRater
Auto all the time.

But we haven’t forgotten about WinRater
Home Rating Software!

Over the last few months we’ve made a number of improvements, including: 

• A new option for “distance to coast”: WinRater now supports “20 miles”.
• Guaranteed Replacement Cost change:  Now the endorsements for Dwelling Replacement Cost and Specified Additional Amounts of Insurance are on the same Adjustments tab and WinRater will only add the checked Replacement Cost option if it is offered by the selected Carrier plan.
• You can now create a pdf of your quote and email it.
• Added Peerless rates to available plans.
• Added Vermont Mutual and Concord Group to SinglePoint new business submissions.
• Added Andover Companies to the automated ChoicePoint credit retrieval utility.
• And we’re making a number of improvements that will be included in our WinRater 6.0 upgrade, due out in January.

Not too shabby, eh?!

Just in case you weren’t aware, here are the 13 carriers that retrieve credit reports while quoting in WinRater Home:
      • Andover
      • Arbella
      • Bunker Hill
      • Commerce
      • General Casualty
      • Hanover
      • Hingham
      • National Grange
      • Norfolk & Dedham
      • OneBeacon
      • Peerless
      • Quincy Mutual
      • Safety

Call us if you write HO business with one of these carriers BUT are still going out to www.choicepoint.com to run these reports.  We can help you save time.

Agents writing Homeowners business with The Andover Companies can now run ChoicePoint credit reports (and verify eligibility) from directly within WinRater Home Rating.

This is another great way to streamline workflow in your agency. With this utility, you can pull ChoicePoint credit reports while rating the policy. WinRater, in turn, will instantly verify the eligibility of the risk according to the Andover rules.

The Andover Companies now joins 12 other MA carriers, including OneBeacon, Commerce, Hingham, Quincy, Safety, Bunker Hill, and Hanover that have implemented this solution to help agents gather necessary underwriting data and streamline new business quoting.

If you have any questions, just give us a call. We can get this set up for you in a few minutes.

The Registry announced that they will allow the use of electronic stamps and signatures for RMV-1s and RMV-3s. What will this mean for the typical independent agent?

We’re still trying to find out.

Even though we’ve been aware of this for a while and we’ve been working with MAIA on it, this is a pretty significant change. There is a lot to get our arms around. The technical specs are still being fleshed out. We need to understand all the consequences it will have on agent workflow and how WinRater can best help.

No doubt, we will modify WinRater to automate this functionality for you. However, we do not have any specific details to share right now. Look for an email from us in the coming week or so explaining how we will handle this. Of course please call us if you have any questions or would like to discuss this in detail.

A lot of agents have called about the validating driver, vehicle and policy infomation from the Registry. 

We recommend that all agencies sign up for the Registry’s VPN to get the RMV information you need to accurately quote policies under managed competition.  The cost is $20 per month per workstation— not a lot if you have one or two CSRs, but it can really add up if you are part of a large agency.

We’ve worked hard to get the Registry to allow WinRater to retrieve this information in a faster, less expensive manner.  Then, agents wouldn’t have to maintain and pay for the VPN connection.  But, to be honest, it probably won’t happen anytime soon.  State agencies move slowly.  Maybe someday they will see the light.  Until then, you’ll just have to pay the piper, unfortunately. 

Another option is to go to your carrier web site and connect to the RMV.  You can then re-key the data in WinRater and get a comparative quote.  Not that efficient, I know, but it is an option.

It took a herculean effort, but we got all the carrier rates in the new WinRater when we said we would.  (There are still 3 carriers who do not want us to program their rates… but we are trying to convince them otherwise.) 

I know some of you agents would have wanted your rates earlier, but really, I don’t think any company could have done a better job than we did.  It was a near-impossible task, given the limited amount of time.

There is still a lot of work to be done, but at least the rates are in your hands.